You could be a little hesitant in wanting to watch the series premiere of Sleepy Hollow after having seen for so many times possibly good show cancelled just after few start up episodes. Many TV shows come out, get popular and don’t develop their characters past the first quarter.
Good thing, Fox’s supernatural hit series Sleepy Hollow took off successfully where others failed. It has garnered surprisingly a good number of audience to remain on air. When we meet up with Abbie and Ichabod in episode 1, Ichabod is water dripping out of a bucket and Abbie is an anxious skeptic. By mid-season, she’s grown closer to her estranged sister and Ichabod is slowly growing accustomed to modern society.
Sleepy Hollow hit the ground running from the first episode. With its blend of classic storytelling, action, horror and fantasy, it’s easy to get hooked up wanting for more. Here’s why it’s worth the binge watch.
It makes you dig through History class. Details you might easily miss out like during Paul Revere’s famous ride, he yelled out “The regulars are coming!” and not “British”. Well at that time like Ichabod expressly stated “We are all British!”
Calls for Smart Audience Who Don’t Need Spoon Feeding
Storywriters avoid over explaining and when you see things happen, there’s not much of loop holes. It’s easy to find fault when you’re overly informed anyway.
When Ichabod references some fact from his time period that is in stark contrast to our present, he doesn’t talk at length explaining the differences in then and now. He says it matter-of-factly. For instance, he might say, “Ms. Mills, it genuinely frightens me the speed at which you found out that rather esoteric piece of information from your… internet. In my day, I may have waited 2 months just to learn that recipe!”
Continuity is the Key
As said on the previous page, the writers seem to dive feet first into the show’s own mythology and makes sure that continuity between episodes remains ironclad. Nobody just pops from nowhere and saves the day as seen when Jenny planned out the escape of Ichabod and Abbie from the armed owners of the house they broke into. Scenes are being foreseen without spoiling it too much.
A Deviation From the Usual
If you love fairy tales, where a damsel in distress is saved by a prince charming, although Ichabod definitely suits the title, Sleepy Hollow gives emphasis to women empowerment and most of the time, it is Abbie who always gets Ichabod’s back.
Sleepy Hollow is one of the few popular shows that not only has a minority lead (the other one is Scandal) but frequently gives other cast members significant screen time. Women are also shown to be very strong, independent and not need rescuing by the big strapping male hero. Abbie does a lot of saving of Ichabod’s hide throughout the season.
Sleepy Hollow’s Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones, Lyndie Greenwood, Richard Cetrone (the Horseman), John Cho, Amandla Stenberg and others do a great job in showing the diversity and backbone of the show’s casting.
Action, Adventure, Suspense And Intrigue
On a different note, Sleepy Hollow would be a boring show filled with long monologues about history and how the Headless Horseman must be stopped without showing much of the actual Headless Horseman being a bad-ass. Perhaps that’s an exaggeration, but we’ve all seen shows that could be great bogged down by too much talking and little to no action.
Sleepy Hollow did it right on that part as it goes for the jugular whenever a threat is present. From episode one, we’re treated to skilled fight scenes and some excellent axe work from both Ichabod and the Horseman. Gun fights, sword duels and knock down drag out martial arts are staples of this over-the-top show!